


head spinning thinking about this boy

by sausegay



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, As they would be, Cheerleader Naruto, Fluff, For the most part, Humor, Jacket sharing, Jock Boyfriends, M/M, Naruto does cheer but they're both still jocks, Sasuke's POV, Soccer Player Sasuke, lots of pining, mostly cute, sharing lunches
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-20
Updated: 2019-11-20
Packaged: 2021-02-18 02:35:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21503815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sausegay/pseuds/sausegay
Summary: Sasuke continues, “it’s different when it’s your best friend you’re trying to ask out.”“You sound like you speak from experience.”Sasuke takes a moment to respond, gaze shifting to a spot over Naruto’s shoulder then back to his eyes. “Just casual observation.”or where sasuke has a really bad crush on naruto and he thinks it's unrequited until he finds out it isn't. featuring soccer practices, cheer stunts, a shared bento, and other events taking place over the course of a school term.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 48
Kudos: 746





	head spinning thinking about this boy

**Author's Note:**

> it's finally here!!!! the cheer au i've been talking about for so long. honestly, thank you to everyone in our gc whose been hyping this up for me and making me feel so happy. special shoutout to min for listening to me in the dms and sending me song suggestions and helping me with the title!!! also, special special shoutout to FEZ, it's their birthday and this is my little gift for them!! I love them so much, happy birthday FEZ!!! i hope you like it and i hope everyone else enjoys it as well

_ one day _

“Are you almost done? Sensei’s gonna be here soon.” Sasuke casually flips through his magazine. 

“Yeah, geez. Don’t rush me.” Naruto tries to quickly copy the answers from Sasuke’s homework down onto his own paper. With one foot resting on the ground and the other shoeless foot in Sasuke’s lap, he scribbles away with his pencil. 

Looking at Naruto over the top of his magazine, Sasuke watches the boy bite his lip in concentration. Seeing how his features get illuminated by the light streaming into the window 

“You’re the one who didn’t do your homework last night, dobe.” 

“And you’re the one letting me copy it, so who’s the real baka now?” 

Sasuke rolls his eyes at that, refusing to agree even though Naruto’s right. What’s the point of Naruto wanting to do his homework if Sasuke will always let him copy it in homeroom before class starts anyways. 

“Tch. Whatever.” Sasuke goes back to reading, but not before knocking Naruto’s foot off his lap in retaliation. Naruto’s squawk of indignation follows not a second too late. Like Sasuke’s gonna continue to let him use his lap as a footrest; he has to at least pretend like he isn’t completely whipped by the boy. 

For appearances sake, you know. 

-

_ later that same day _

“Finally,” Kiba groans out, dramatically dropping his head onto his desk and smushing his cheek against the tabletop. The door closing behind their teacher is barely audible as student’s voices begin to pick up, signalling the start of lunch. “I thought he was never gonna stop talking.”

“Must be hard to listen when you have no idea what’s being talked about,” Shino chimes in from a couple rows behind them. Naruto turns his head to look at him, feet still propped up on the table top. He forgets Shino’s there sometimes. “Listening comprehension was never your strong suit.”

“Honestly, fuck you Shino.” Kiba yells at him. Naruto hears someone make a squawk of indignation, but he can’t pinpoint who it is. 

“So noisy,” Shikamaru yawns from behind him, clearly having just woken up from his nap during class. “Can you be quiet?”

“Go back to sleep,” Ino says upon passing them, shoving Shikamaru’s head back down on the desk in the process. Shikamaru makes a lazy swipe at her in protest, but otherwise doesn’t try anything serious to stop her. Naruto watches her walk to the other side of the room where she joins some of the other girls in the class to eat. 

“You just let women push you around,” Another one of their classmates, Hibiki, adds from a row away, leaning forward in his chair with a look on his face that screams mischief. 

“Temari,” Kiba chimes in.

“Ino,” Sai supplies, having materialized out of nowhere and completely scaring the life out of Naruto. He’s leaning against the window on Naruto’s left, legs and arms crossed casually. 

“His mom,” Shino adds, barely being heard over the noise of the others. 

“Wait a minute.” Kiba waves a finger in the air. He reaches into his bag to pull out his bento. “That doesn’t count. Like, moms and sisters can boss you around and you can’t say shit.”

“That’s just you and Shikamaru, Kiba,” Shino replies back.

“Nope,” Kiba waves him off, “I refuse to believe you all aren’t the least bit scared of your moms. They’re no joke.”

“Your moms are just crazy.”

“Don’t talk about my mom like that,” Kiba responds to Hibiki, lifting his chopsticks threateningly, “even if she is a little crazy.” He angrily shoves a rice ball into his mouth. 

“It’s not even about letting women boss you around, it’s called picking your battles.” Hibiki laughs at Shikamaru’s words. 

“I’m with Kiba, moms have a pass,” Naruto responds, putting his hands behind his head. “My mom freaks out over everything. I can’t let her in my room anymore.” Sasuke snorts from in front of him, causing Naruto to jab his shoulder with his foot. It’s clear that Sasuke lets him get away with it because he doesn’t try and grab Naruto’s foot like he did last time.

Yes, this is a common enough occurence for them. 

Last time, Sasuke drew the words ‘dobe’ on Naruto’s shoe in permanent marker, followed by something else crude. Clearly Naruto is rubbing off on him if he’s resorting to drawing crude things, considering that’s Naruto’s trademark. 

“Got something to hide Naruto?” Kiba raises a brow at him. Naruto rolls his eyes at him. 

“His diary,” Sai adds in. Naruto briefly contemplates pushing him out of the window, but thinks better of it. He can already imagine his mom’s irritation at having to be called to the principal’s office in the middle of the day. 

“Even if I had a diary, how would you know? Been snooping in my room Sai?” 

“That contamination zone? No thanks, I’ll pass.” Sai examines his nails. “But I think you should consider getting a diary, considering all those little messages you keep writing around the school. What was it again?” Sai puts a finger to his chin in mock thought. Naruto’s eyes go wide, watching Sasuke’s back pause and head tilt up slightly, a small sign that he’s suddenly paying full attention even if his face is still buried in his food. 

“What messages?” Choji asks, just having come back from the bathroom. He takes a seat next to Shikamaru. 

“Oh, the little N and-” Sai flinches when a rubber band strikes him in the middle of his forehead. 

“Oops,” Naruto fakes an apology, “sorry my hand slipped.” Kiba lets out a howl, quickly followed by Choji and Hibiki snickering behind him. 

“Naruto’s keeping secrets,” Shino adds in unhelpfully. Naruto just wants them to change the topic now, especially before Sasuke decides to chime in. 

Most of the time, Sasuke doesn’t talk to their classmates, moreso Naruto’s friends than Sasuke’s, because he finds them annoying (Sasuke’s exact words). He’s only stuck with them during lunch because they share a homeroom and despite what he likes to claim sometimes, he does enjoy Naruto’s company above all. 

If Sasuke could choose, he’d probably hang out with Suigetsu, Karin, and Juugo, but instead he’s stuck with people he’s been going to school with since middle school. 

“I’m really not. If anyone’s keeping secrets, it would be Shikamaru. It’s funny how nobody’s talking about how he got in trouble for making out with Temari in the girl’s bathroom.” Naruto crosses his fingers, hoping the distraction works. 

“What the fuck dude,” Shikamaru thumps him on the back of his head. 

“You made out with Temari!” Kiba yells, catching the attention of everyone in the room. “How is this jackass bagging seniors, meanwhile I can barely get the other junior girls to look at me.” 

Naruto begins to tune them out once they start going into a whole spiel questioning Shikamaru and his ‘pro’ status as they title it. He isn’t really interested in talking about girls right now.  _ Huh,  _ Naruto thinks to himself,  _ I sound like Sasuke.  _

On a more important note, he could really go for some ramen right now. His stomach growls outloud to punctuate how hungry he is, causing him to clutch it in response. He’s mad that he left his bento at home, especially since his mom made his favorite today.

Maybe he can bug Sasuke for some of his food. 

Dropping his feet off the desktop, he leans forward eagerly and begins to tap Sasuke’s back incessantly. “Sasuke,” he whispers, making his voice go higher the more he has to call his name. “Sasuke, Sasuke-”

“What?” Sasuke asks, turning his head to give Naruto the attention he’s craving. 

“I’m hungry.”

“And?”

“Feed me.”

“What happened to the bento your mom made you?”

“I forgot it at home,” Naruto pouts with his words. Sasuke should turn around so he can see Naruto pouting and be convinced to give him food. What’s the point of being Sasuke’s best friend if he can’t even get fed when he’s starving and dying.

“I’m dying Sasuke,” Naruto groans, poking him again just to piss the other boy off. “If I don’t eat now, I’ll die and then they’ll have to put Death by Starvation because Sasuke Uchiha, his best friend in the whole wide world, wouldn’t feed him on my tombstone. Do you want that Sasuke?”

“I want you to shut up,” Sasuke says. Getting up, bento in hand, Sasuke pushes his chair closer to Naruto, sitting down to straddle it backwards. He sets his food down on Naruto’s desk, giving the boy an exaggerated look in response. 

Naruto sticks his tongue out gleefully at him.

“Where are your chopsticks?”

“Don’t have any,” Naruto smiles smugly at him, “guess I’ll have to use yours.”

“Gross,” Sasuke says, as if they haven’t shared worse. There was this one time when Naruto had to spend the night at his house because of a rainstorm and he had to borrow a spare toothbrush and some of Sasuke’s boxers. It’s not something they talk about really. 

Picking up his chopsticks, Sasuke picks up some vegetables and rice. Wielding them, he gently pushes them into Naruto’s mouth and makes a soft chuckle when Naruto gags upon feeling the steamed veggies touch his tongue. 

“I hate vegetables. I want meat.” Naruto makes a ‘give me’ motion with his hands.

“Of course you want meat.” 

“Shut up.” Naruto slaps his on the arm. “I didn’t mean it like that bastard.”

“Didn’t say you did. Not my fault your mind’s in the gutter.” Sasuke takes a cherry tomato and pops it into his mouth. 

“Let me feed myself since you want to be stingy.” Naruto tries to grab the chopsticks out of Sasuke’s hand, but the boy conveniently holds them out of reach. 

“No,” Sasuke makes a little noise with his words, barely noticeable as the next words come storming out. “I know you’re going to eat all my beef first. If I had even an inkling of a feeling that you weren’t going to, I’d let you feed yourself.”

“So you’re just gonna keep feeding me Sasuke?” Naruto says his name obnoxiously, adding extra emphasis on the last syllable, even though it isn’t necessary. “Sounds kinda gay.”

“And who’d know what’s gay or not better than you, Naruto?” Sasuke stops him from replying by shoving some more food in his mouth. This time it’s sweet, sweet beef and a little bit of salmon. Humming in content, Naruto can’t help but thank Mikoto for her amazing cooking. 

After having cleared out most of Sasuke’s bento with him, Naruto leans back in smug satisfaction at getting what he wants. 

“Are they flirting? Is this flirting?”

“I can’t believe they’re subjecting us to this.” 

Upon zeroing back in and registering the whispers behind him, Naruto can feel his eyes widen and a blush work its way up his neck and onto his face as he feels all the eyes on him and Sasuke. 

Chopsticks paused midair, Sasuke freezes and stares down at his bento. When he slowly looks up, his gaze first connects with Ino across the room, who gives him a smug smile in return and mimes making kissing faces. Turning his head the other way quickly, Sasuke tries to hide how much this affects him. 

Looking down, bangs covering the worst of his flustered appearance, (not nearly as flustered as Naruto, who seems to be turning redder as he yells at the boys behind him) he tries to calm himself down. Maybe he did get carried away; it only sucks that they had to ruin it for him and call him out on it. 

Realizing that he’s more mad at them for interrupting, he realizes just how bad he has it. He completely zeroed in on Naruto and forgot about his surroundings, which he would find less embarrassing if he hadn’t gotten caught. 

_ Fuck,  _ is all he can think as the noise around him grows and he continues to eat his food. He better not get involved, considering Naruto’s halfway out of his seat trying to strangle a giggling Kiba and trip Sai for his smug remarks. 

-

_ another day _

“Morning oba-san,” Sasuke greets Kushina upon seeing who it is that opened the door. She smiles at him kindly, wielding her spatula like a weapon. 

“Goodmorning Sasuke,” Kushina says, smiling warmly at him. She steps aside, giving Sasuke the room to step inside as well, although he accidentally brushes against her protruding stomach. Kushina laughs at his apology and waves him off while Sasuke slips off his own school shoes next to a pair of orange running shoes, and puts on a pair of slippers. 

“Naruto isn’t ready yet,” Kushina tells him, letting Sasuke trails behind him further into the house. They pause in the living room right next to the staircase. “He’s still getting ready, he woke up late again.” Her volume increases with the last few words, her voice carrying up the stairs, most likely so that Naruto can hear. 

It figures that Naruto woke up late, considering this is a common thing for him to do. 

“Ha,” as if summoned, Naruto’s voice sounds from the top of the stairs. “Jokes on you because I am ready.” Seconds later, Sasuke and Kushina see Naruto come barrelling down the stairs, missing many steps in his haste to get down there fast. He looks a mess. 

“Ow,” Naruto complains as his socks cause him to slide when landing at the bottom, making his shoulder crash into the wall. He pouts and rubs at his arm sadly. 

“Dobe,” Sasuke sighs, using a hand to cover up his face and stop him from laughing. 

“You’re nowhere near ready,” Kushina tuts at him, taking in Naruto’s disheveled appearance. Sasuke peaks behind his hand to see how wrinkled Naruto’s uniform is. “Your dad ironed that last night, why is it so wrinkled?”

“I don’t know.”

Kushina groans. “And where’s your tie?” Naruto rolls his eyes at the nagging and from the looks of it, it seems playful enough. Good thing Kushina isn’t looking at his face or he’d get chewed out for it. 

She’s too busy trying to fix his clothes, pulling Naruto this way and that to straighten him out in a way only a parent knows best. 

“Right here.” Naruto pulls out the crumbled tie from his pocket, handing it to Sasuke. “Sasuke’s gonna put it on for me.”

Sasuke shakes his head, but still grabs it. Naruto smiles knowingly at him. “Idiot. Didn’t your dad teach you how to tie a tie?”

“Yeah,” Naruto smiles at him, “but I forgot. Anyways, what’s the point of having you as my best friend if you won’t tie my ties for me? Yours are always perfect.” Sasuke hates that he finds Naruto’s annoyingness cute and endearing almost.

Kushina steps back, but not before giving Naruto’s blazer a couple more tugs here and there, to which Naruto tries to swat her away. “Mom, it’s fine.”

Kushina making a disagreeing sound, but relents. “Fine. I’m going to go check on your dad, make sure he didn’t burn down the house.” With that, she walks off, but not before turning around to give Sasuke a little wink. Sasuke has no idea what that means, that knowing look of hers, but it still causes his face to flare up nonetheless. 

“Come on Sas,” Naruto says, pulling Sasuke’s attention back to him. It’s rare that he has to do that. “Hurry up so we can go. I’m supposed to meet with the cheer club before school starts.”

Stepping forward, Sasuke begins to tie Naruto’s tie for him. He knows that by the end of the day it’s going to be hanging limply around his neck, but with the principal constantly breathing down their necks about uniform policy on entrance ceremony days, he thinks it’s smart not to chance it. 

He doesn’t want to be stuck waiting for Naruto again after another detention.

“Not my fault you’re running late,” Sasuke rolls his eyes as he continues, “you were supposed to meet me at the train station.” They’re close now, Sasuke’s words breathing onto Naruto’s face. If he looks up from under his bangs, he’d be able to see Naruto’s eyes big, blue, bright, and imploring. He’s glad he can’t see him now, he’s not sure if he’d be able to breathe with seeing Naruto that close to his face. 

“Yeah yeah yeah.” Fuck, Sasuke thinks to himself, his breath stinks. “Hurry up.”

Sasuke steps back when he’s done. “Did you even brush your teeth this morning?”

Naruto gets a pensive look on his face before his eyes widen comically. “No.” He bolts upstairs. 

Sasuke can only shake his head at the boy, watching him clumsily run up the steps and trying not to slip in his socked feet. He can’t believe he’s crushing on a boy who doesn’t even remember to brush their teeth in the morning. 

-

_ a very different day _

“Sasuke,” Naruto says his name like a question, causing the other to look towards him. “What’s it like being a brother?”

Sasuke thinks back on his own memories with Itachi, unpleasantly. 

“If I could choose to be an only child I would.”

Naruto gawks at him, turning in his seat so he can face Sasuke better. “Why? Itachi is so cool, ya know. I’d kill to have him as my older brother.” 

Sasuke thinks back on two days ago when his brother finally emerged from his room after a two day self-imposed isolation, smelling of everything unholy, only to badger Sasuke for money. Or how he always invites over his less than pleasant friends, who are always too loud and disrupt Sasuke with their horrible music while he’s trying to study. And let’s not forget how when he isn’t hoarding himself away in his room or leaving the house for long stretches of time, he’s hogging the bathroom for ten hours with his horrendous haircare routine, which has forced Sasuke to get ready at school more times than not. 

“Let’s just agree to disagree, okay.” Sasuke licks his lips. “Why do you ask, anyways?”

Naruto sighs long-suffering, gently resting his head against Sasuke’s shoulder. “I just want to make sure I’m a good brother, ya know. Mom’s due soon and I don’t know what to expect.” The trains speeds on, causing Naruto to shift closer to Sasuke as they hit a sharp turn. Sasuke doesn’t mind the proximity, nor does he mind the air Naruto’s breathing on his shoulder. 

It seeps through his school shirt (where the top three buttons are left open) and warms the skin underneath. 

He gets embarrassed remembering how the first time Naruto did that, he sat up rigid and rod straight because he wasn’t sure how to process having his newly discovered crush do that. Now, Sasuke welcomes the closeness, relaxing his shoulders a bit more so Naruto’s more comfortable. He slouches further in his seat, keeping his legs splayed open so that his knee lightly knocks against Naruto’s own.

And even though his body language screams calm and comfortable, which is natural after years of knowing Naruto, his heart still races with excitement and hope. 

“I think you’ll make a great brother.”

“You’re just saying that because you’re my friend.” Naruto’s hand lays forlorn on his thigh, palm solitary and facings upwards. Sasuke thinks it looks so lonely. 

“When have I ever said anything just because I’m your friend.”

‘Well…” Naruto trails off and Sasuke can imagine him putting his thinking face on. “Now that you say that, you don’t sugar coat things at all.” 

“Exactly.” 

“Doesn’t make you any less of a bastard though,” Naruto says, knocking his knee roughly into Sasuke’s. “Anyways, why are your legs so long, weirdo? You’re taking up all the room. I barely have any room to stretch out, teme .”

Sasuke pushes his right leg against Naruto’s in retaliation. “Maybe if you weren’t so short you’d understand.”

Naruto’s head shoots up off of Sasuke’s shoulder at the accusation. Sasuke turns his head towards the boy to regard the annoyance written on his face. “I’m not even that short jackass. You’re like a centimeter taller than me.”

“And a centimeter speaks volumes Naruto.” Sasuke gives him a little smirk. 

Naruto seethes. “Close your legs.”

“No, but I’d like to see you try and make me.” 

Naruto spends the next couple of minutes trying and failing to get Sasuke to close his legs, despite the boy’s clear resistance. His knees will probably hurt tomorrow, but he won’t back down from a challenge.

Sasuke only puts a stop to their little game when an older woman steps onto the already packed train car (and when did it get so full already) and sees that there’s no place to sit. He gets up, slinging his bag over his shoulder and tells the woman she can sit down.

She smiles warmly at him. “Thank you young man, you’re too kind.” Sasuke smiles politely back in response. 

Feeling strange with Sasuke hanging over him, looking all cool and casual with his arm gripping the top bar, Naruto stands up himself and nearly busts his nose on Sasuke’s face when the train picks up speed after the stop.

Sasuke steps over to give him some room, placing a steadying arm around Naruto’s shoulder to keep him from falling.

Relying on Sasuke’s support, Naruto forgoes grabbing the railing and instead takes his phone out of his pocket to google the average height for males. Peeking around his shoulder, Sasuke just barely avoids laughing out loud.

Feeling Sasuke’s gaze on the side of his head, Naruto squints at him. They’re pretty much eye to eye, not much of a height difference to speak of, but Sasuke finds it so funny teasing Naruto because he so easily rises to the bait. 

Naruto clearly doesn’t find it funny though because he decides now is the perfect time to try and viciously poke Sasuke in the stomach, which almost causes them to fall into other patrons considering Sasuke is supporting all of their weight. 

And if they almost miss their stop because Sasuke has to try and restrain Naruto’s wandering hands (and since when was he ticklish?), well that’s no one else’s fault but their own. 

-

_ another very nice day _

Sasuke lets out a grunt as a body collides with his own, tipping forward slightly and using his right leg to catch himself. Getting ready to tell off whoever collided with him so heavily, he feels arms snake around his waist.

“Guess who,” the voice says, very cheerful. Sasuke can imagine the smile without even having to see the face. It is his favorite face after all, one he’s memorized from hours of admiration over their entire school experience. 

“Usuratonkachi.” Naruto sticks his head under Sasuke’s arm, having initially been resting it against Sasuke’s back after running into him. Sasuke looks down at him and resists the urge to smile, seeing Naruto look at him with the biggest and most shit-eating grin; blue eyes bright and shining as they look up at him. 

He doesn’t seem real. Sasuke half expects a twinkle to appear in his eye, and with how brightly the sun is shining today, Sasuke wouldn’t be surprised if one did appear. Naruto snuggles his cheek into Sasuke’s side before standing up straight so they’re face to face.

“What has you so happy?” Sasuke asks. He pulls Naruto closer to himself so that they’re out of the way of students passing in the hall. He had been waiting in front of the bathroom before the boy collided into him. 

“Sensei said that my tosses are getting better,” Naruto announces, rocking back and forth on his heels, hands locked behind himself. “I might get switched from spotter to base next term if I keep improving.”

Sasuke smiles around his next word, “yeah?”

“Yep.” Naruto can’t stop smiling either. “Do you wanna see it?”

“Now?”

“Yeah.” 

Sasuke groans. “I have cram school in an hour. The trains are gonna be packed if I don’t leave now.”

“Come on Sasuke,” Naruto pleads, “it’ll just take like five seconds.” He’s pouting even, which is obnoxious in and of itself. What’s even more obnoxious is that Sasuke falls for it. 

“Fine.”

“Fuck yeah!” Naruto pumps a fist in the air. “Let’s go.” Hurriedly grabbing Sasuke’s hand, he begins tugging him towards the basketball courts. The contact of hand and wrist causes Sasuke’s heart to pick up pace, making it hard to focus on not tripping over his own feet with how fast Naruto is pulling him. 

He mostly succeeds, at not falling that is. Getting his heart to stop beating irregularly is another thing entirely. 

  
-  
  


“You’re not going to throw me, are you?” Sasuke gives Naruto a questioning look, one eyebrow raised in suspicion. 

“Of course not.” Naruto rolls his eyes at him. “You’re too heavy anyways.” Before Sasuke can reply to that comment, Naruto runs off. “Hey Hinata!” 

Sasuke watches as Naruto flags the girl down, rolling his eyes at how she startles at the shout and proceeds to very obviously stutter through her conversation with him. 

Sasuke’s saved from having to watch the painstaking interaction by a slap on his back that jostles him forward and an arm coming around his shoulders, closing in a if ready to choke him. 

“Well if it isn’t Sasuke-kun,” Ino whispers into his ear. Sasuke can imagine her grinning. “Surprised you could grace us with your presence, but considering Naruto’s here I shouldn’t be that surprised. Are you spying on the cheerleaders again Sasuke, or should I say, spying on a specific cheerleader?”

Sasuke groans, grabbing Ino’s wrist and dislodging her from his body. “Don’t touch me.”

“But why not?” Sasuke doesn’t look at her, refusing to see yet another insufferable face she’s probably making. “Is it because only Naruto can? That’s so sad, considering all you’ll ever get from him is a little friendly hug.” 

“Rich coming from you.” Sasuke smirks to himself as he delivers his next words, “I heard Lee’s been getting closer to Sakura lately.”

“They’re just training together.” Her tone sounds clipped. Sasuke chuckles at the knowledge of hitting a soft spot. 

“Are you sure? I could see them dating at some point. Unlike you, Sakura actually has an interest in boys and doesn’t have to pretend to be dating her other very gay friend just for a some attention. Keep it up Ino, I think I almost saw her get jealous yesterday.” Sasuke laughs when Ino punches him in the arm. 

“I hate you. You’re so annoying.”

“Hey, you’re the one who started something and couldn’t finish it.”

“Are you guys done over there?” Naruto yells to them, causing Sasuke to pull his attention away from Ino and watch as Naruto stands a ways away from them, Hinata standing in front of him hesitantly with a few other cheerleaders standing nearby to help presumably. 

“Yeah. Ino was just leaving,” Sasuke responds, crossing his arms over his chest happily when Ino rolls her eyes playfully and begins to walk towards where the other cheerleaders are still practicing. Huh, Sasuke thinks to himself, Naruto must’ve ditched practice just to show him his new move. 

Sasuke finds that thought pleasing to say the least. What he finds less pleasing though is watching Naruto, with all the care and precision in the world, help Hinata up onto their linked hands only to toss her into the air and catch her smoothly. Sasuke doesn’t even have to be there to know she’s blushing. The thought is mostly embarrassing to imagine. 

What makes up for it is Naruto setting her down and immediately jogging over to Sasuke, clearly wanting his opinion on if he did a good job or not. Jokes on him, Sasuke will always see something to admire in him. 

“So how did I do?” Naruto asks, doing that rocking back and forth pose he did earlier, where he’s very excited and can hardly contain himself. 

“Looked good.” It’s worth it to see the smile that spreads across Naruto’s face, almost shy in nature. 

“Really?” And is that a blush or is Sasuke’s vision going out. 

“Of course. I always see your potential.” And isn’t that the biggest understatement of the year? Fuck, Sasuke can’t help but think to himself, I have it so bad. 

If Naruto asked him to rob someone he probably would, that’s how bad he has it. Especially if Naruto smiled at him like that again, he’d do anything for him.

-

_ the very next day _

Sasuke decides to treat him the next day after classes with some ramen from this cozy little spot a couple of blocks away from school. 

Their entrance is signalled by the bell above the door jingling as it connects with the door opening. Naruto and Sasuke both wave at the nice young lady behind the counter, a sweet girl who also happens to be the daughter of the owner. 

She waves back in response and lets them seat themselves, and so they choose their favorite spot right next to the large window that overlooks the bustling city streets. It’s tucked away in a little corner, giving them a semblance of privacy in the mostly quiet establishment. There’s only a couple of other patrons, Sasuke notes as he takes a seat, an elderly couple seated at one of the chairs and tables and two other teens eating at the counter. Naruto tosses his bag in first before sliding in right after it, sitting directly across from Sasuke. 

There’s no point in them looking at the menus anymore; they’ve come here so much that they already know what they want. 

“Do you think Ino’s gonna confess to Sakura-chan?” Naruto asks, leaning forward with his elbows on the table. 

“Hm.” Sasuke makes a small noise, leaning back against the booth in thought. “I didn’t know you knew about her crush.” Most of the time, Naruto seems oblivious to that type of stuff. 

“I’m like her good friend, bastard.” Naruto rolls his eyes at him. “Of course I know who she has a crush on.” Naruto smiles smugly at him as he says, “I listen to people, thank you.”

Sasuke rolls his eyes at him. “Sure, whatever.”

“I think she’s gonna do it. I see the way she looks at her, she’s bound to work up the courage sooner or later.”

“Depends, doesn’t it?”

“What do you mean?” Naruto tilts his head at him.

Before Sasuke can respond, Ayame comes over to take their orders.

Once she leaves,  Sasuke continues, “if Ino knows that Sakura likes her, she’ll be more likely to ask her out. It’s different when it’s your best friend.” 

“You sound like you speak from experience.”

Sasuke takes a moment to respond, gaze shifting to a spot over Naruto’s shoulder then back to his eyes. “Just casual observation.”

“I want them to get together so bad.” Naruto sprawls dramatically on the table, moaning as his cheek squishes against the presumably cold surface. “All Ino does is moan and groan about how much she likes her and how pretty Sakura’s hair is and how beautiful her eyes are. It’s annoying.”

“I thought you liked that type of stuff. Romance that is.”

Naruto turns his head slightly to give him a deadpan look in response. “I like the romantic gestures behind two people getting together. The pining is annoying when you’re the one being subjected to it.”

Sasuke doesn’t want to give Naruto any ideas, so he avoids telling him that maybe he should just push them together via finding out if Sakura likes her back. Knowing what he does know about Sakura though, she seems pretty dense at the best of times. 

The typical typical, mistakes everything their friend does as platonic even if their friend were to confess their love for them right then and there, type.

“And then,” Naruto continues upon noticing that Sasuke isn’t adding anything else, “Ino called me an idiot, me! She keeps going on and on about her crush and when I tell her to just go tell Sakura, she calls me a hypocritical idiot.”

“Hypocritical?” Sasuke eyebrows perk up in interest.

“I don’t even know what that means.” Naruto dramatically throws his hands up, picking his head up off the table.

Sasuke tried not to laugh and mostly fails, if the look Naruto gives him is anything to go back. He can relax though, it was only a chuckle. “It’s like, you have no right for calling her out on something when you’re doing the same thing, basically.”

“Hm.” Naruto makes a small noise, understanding dawning on his face. It’s a pretty common occurrence, but it still doesn’t change how funny it looks. “Well that’s…” He trails off.

“Do you have a crush on someone or something?” Sasuke tries to appear casual. Hoping he mostly succeeds, considering how he wants to know but also doesn’t want to know if it isn’t him. Doesn’t like how hope is fostering within him considering he’s never heard Naruto talk of a crush before or hang out with anyone other than him long enough to possibly develop a crush.

Then again, crushes sometimes happen for people upon seeing a person for the first time. That’s how it happened for Sasuke anyways. 

“Ha ha ha,” Naruto scratches awkwardly at the back of his neck, cheeks dusting pink the longer Sasuke stares at him. Shifting his gaze away from Sasuke, he says, “well you see, it’s really not like that. Like it’s not that serious, kind of dumb really.”

“Who is it?” Sasuke keeps trying for casual. “Someone in class.”

“Eh…” Naruto keeps shifting his eyes away from Sasuke anytime they make contact. “Not technically.” His voice sounds weird.

Before Sasuke can pressure him some more, Ayame comes and brings their food. Naruto takes the opportunity to thank her before beginning to guzzle it down quickly. Sasuke stares at him suspiciously before thanking Ayame himself and going at his at a slower pace.

It’s okay. If Naruto wants to play the avoidance game, Sasuke can try and coax it out of him later. He’s persistent.

And if that crush happens to be on someone like Gaara (nice new student who’s a class president hopeful in the coming terms) Sasuke might just break a pencil or two. He doesn’t have anything against Gaara, hasn’t given him much thought or attention since he got here, but he does know that Naruto talks to him on occasion.

It’s fine though. It’s alright. 

Especially when he only gets through half of his bowl and Naruto eagerly takes the rest, looking like an idiot with broth on his cheeks and dripping slightly from his mouth.

Sasuke shouldn’t find this cute, but he does. He also kind of hates himself for it.

-

_ a completely different day _

“Don’t you want to go and hang out with your friends?” Sasuke asks, pulling up his shirt to wipe away the sweat on his forehead. They just got done playing basketball for gym and he’s sweating badly, the sun has been beating down on them unforgivingly. 

Naruto takes a moment to reply, seeming to startle when Sasuke has dropped his shirt and gives him an expectant look in response, clearly awaiting an answer. “Why would I want to hang with them?” Naruto asks. 

“Because they’re your friends.” Sasuke thinks he sounds ridiculous. Why wouldn’t Naruto want to hang out with other people every once in a while, especially since his friends invited Naruto out for burgers after school. 

Naruto replies, “but I could hang with you instead. Actually,” Naruto takes a step forward with his words, seeming to have come back from his momentary loss of composure. “I would rather hang with you Sasuke.”

“I’m just going home to do homework.”

“Sounds fun, let’s go.” Naruto already starts walking towards where they left their waterbottles on the bench. 

“But you hate homework.”

“As long as I’m with you I really don’t care what we do.” The words hit Sasuke like a train, causing him to pause and watch Naruto’s back as he retreats towards the benches on the other side of the court. Eyes wide, he takes it all in, every little syllable replaying in his head. 

It’s funny how something that probably seems so simple and commonplace to Naruto is causing Sasuke to need a moment to collect himself, lest he do something embarrassing like confess to Naruto that he feels the same way, that he’s always felt that way. 

“What are you doing over there, baka?” Naruto waves him down. “Come on. I don’t have all day. Also, we’re not gonna do homework. I just bought this new game last week and I wanna play it on your system.”

Sasuke shakes his head to clear himself of those dangerous thoughts that lead to the feeling of longing and yearning for his best friend. He follows in Naruto’s footsteps shortly after. 

-

_ some other day _

“Tip your head back Sasuke.” Groaning, he complies with the command, feeling fingers pressing into his cheeks and squeezing his jaw. 

“What are you, my nurse now?”

“Yes,” Naruto hisses, shoving the tissue further up Sasuke’s nose. Sasuke tries to protest, but Naruto barrels on. “Until you stop going out of your way to get hurt because of me, I won’t stop being your nurse.”

“Sounds good.” Sasuke slouches in his chair with a groan, hoping the nurse isn’t coming back anytime soon. He enjoys the way Naruto’s doting on him, the feeling of his fingers scanning over his nose and the bruise surely to form near his eye. 

Naruto steps closer into the spread of his legs at the movement, further pushing Sasuke’s apart in the process. “Not it’s not. You’re so fucking reckless sometimes.”

Sasuke barks out a laugh at the hypocrisy of the statement. “Those guys were being assholes, what did you expect me to do, let him push you around like that? He threw the first punch and I finished it. Also funny how you mention me being reckless, yet fail to bring up how you did the same thing for me last year when those guys tried starting shit after I came out.” And what a time that was.

“And I’ll do it again if someone ever tries to say shit about you. It makes me so mad,” Naruto seethes. Sasuke’s hand dangle limply at his sides, gaze turned up towards the ceiling. He wishes he could smooth out the annoyance he’s positive is present in Naruto’s features, if only he could see him. 

“People always talk shit though,” Sasuke reminds him, “not saying they’re right, but you get used to it when you’re me. Doesn’t mean I won’t say shit back, but I do know when to pick my battles. You can’t deck every asshole with a loud mouth because it won’t ever get them to shut up. All you end up with is some bruised knuckles and detention.” Speaking of detention, he’s most definitely going to be getting one for that fight and also another for skipping out on his cleaning duty today as a result of said fight. 

“That’s so stupid though, he deserved it.”

“Don’t swing unless swung at is my motto.” Naruto snorts at that. “Keeps you out of trouble at school for the most part.” 

-

_ another cool day _

“Eyes over here, Uchiha.” Minato-Sensei steps in front of Sasuke’s line of sight, effectively blocking his view of the cheerleaders. It wasn’t even like he was actively trying to look either, his eyes just so happened to wander over there as he took some time to catch his breath and cool down, hunched over with his hands on his knees. “I need my striker to be attentive at all times.”

“Yeah Sasuke,” Haru, their wingback teases, coming over to slap Sasuke on the back. “He needs his star player on his A-game, not staring at the cute cheerleaders.” 

Sasuke rolls his eyes and flips his off in the vague direction that he notices Haru going. Standing up straight, he meets Minato-sensei eye to eye. The same man who fathered the boy he’s crushing on badly. It’s funny how he ended up volunteering to be his coach. 

“Wasn’t looking at the cheerleaders, sensei. Was just catching my breath. Didn’t even notice that they came on the field.” Lies. He noticed Naruto the moment he stepped onto the field (right when the soccer players were just sitting on the bench listening to Minato-sensei’s critiques on their last scrimmage), especially when he yelled out “ _ Hey Sasuke!” and waved enthusiastically, causing the other cheerleaders to snicker in response.  _ Naruto rounded on them, saying  _ “Shut up!” only causing them to laugh louder.  _

Hn. Sasuke chuckles at the memory. Cheerleaders. 

“Sure,” Minato-sensei says, giving Sasuke a skeptical look (one he’s entirely too used to) before walking over to the sidelines again. Seems like he doesn’t believe him either. Oh well. Before he’s fully off the field, he yells, “just make sure to pass to Lee next time. I don’t have him on the field to stand there and look pretty.” 

Sasuke squints at his retreating back. 

“Let’s run that play one more time, boys. Get into position, and for fucks sake Kiba, get off the ground,” Sora yells out, taking on that captain position quite nicely. Mr. Popularity sure has a way with words, considering he gets everyone to stop fucking around for two seconds and get back into position. 

“I got hit in the head!” Kiba yells out in response, but the “injury” doesn’t stop him from getting up anyways. 

“Boo hoo, that’s your fucking job,” Sora replies, still yelling as he gets farther away from the goal and to his position in the middle of the field. “Stop the ball by any means possible,” he stresses, getting into a lower position to prepare himself. Minato-sensei chides him for his language, but is otherwise ignored as everyone gets ready for the play. 

Sasuke does the same. Gets himself ready to strike. 

Minato-sensei blows the whistle, signaling them to start. Off the bat, the ball gets passed from Lee to Sasuke, who begins to rapidly take it down the field with Lee going a few paces in front of him on the opposite side of the field. 

Sasuke keeps his position in mind, but keeps charging forward as Sora comes into view. Once he gets near midfield, he passes it off to one of them standing on the line and crosses over the line to get on the receiving end of another pass. When the ball gets back into his possession, he takes a long shot and pumps in victory as it sails over Kiba’s head and into the goal. 

Minato-sensei blows the whistle. 

Sora tuts at him, shaking his head as Sasuke looks at him with a blank expression. “Not playing fair Uchiha.”

“Sasuke,” Minato yells, beginning to storm onto the field with his clipboard waving wildly in the air. Here he goes. “I keep telling you to pass to Lee before scoring, but what do you do? Take the shot. The whole point of this play is teamwork, not showing off. Sit the next one out. Lee, I want you to take Sasuke’s position. Run the next play.” 

So he gets benched for doing his job, great. He walks over to the benches, where Suigetsu is already sitting and warming them. Dropping down, annoyance permeating off him in waves, he grabs the nearest towel and rubs it across his face angrily. He can feel his bangs sticking to his skin and he overcome with the intense desire to pull them back with one of those headbands he always sees Sakura carry around. 

“Showing off for Naruto again, huh?” 

“I’m not-” Sasuke drops the towel onto the floor. “It’s not like I’m even trying to show off. It’s my job to get there and score the goals, is it not? If I needed Lee’s help, realistically, I would pass it to him during an actual game. No point in passing it if I have it under control.” He knows what he’s doing and he does it well, despite what Minato-sensei seems to think. 

“Maybe Minato-sensei just has it out for you, considering you have the hots for his son and shit.” Suigetsu casually slides an arm over his shoulder, grinning from ear to ear. “You can’t even go two seconds without looking at the cheerleaders.”

Speaking of the cheerleaders, Sasuke hasn’t head their loud ass cheers in quite some time. Turning towards where they’re stationed just off the field, Sasuke sees them all staring at the soccer plays run plays. Naruto stands at the head of the pack, Ino’s arm draped over his shoulders as they watch what’s going down. 

No wonder their sensei’s hate when their club practices align, considering one or both groups always gets distracted by the other. In this case it’s the cheerleaders spying on the soccer players, and by some of the looks the soccer players keep giving them, it seems that they don’t mind all that much. 

“Proving my point as always,” Suigetsu adds on snidely. Sasuke barely spares him a glance, watching Naruto as he watches the other plays with rapt attention. It kind of annoys him that he isn’t playing on the field right now, considering he’s one of their vital players. Naruto should be giving him that attention. 

As if sensing Naruto’s stare on him, the boy turns to him and raises his eyebrows in question. Sasuke gives him a thumbs-down in response and Naruto mimes crying, mouth tilted down in a mock-frown. Suigetsu looks back and forth between the two and tries to understand the weird language they have going on between them. 

“Alright, that’s enough looking at the boys.” Chuya-sensei yells, trying to gather all the cheerleaders. “We need to get back to practicing formations.” Nobody moves, clearly too enraptured by the almost sub-par play that Sasuke’s team is going over right now. “Or do you all want to do laps for the rest of the hour instead.” That seems to get their attention. A chorus of ‘sorry sensei’ and ‘please no’ follows in response to the comment as the cheerleaders all shuffle back into their places. 

“This is so boring man.” Suigetsu groans after like a minute of silence and staring endlessly at the field. “What’s the point of me being here if I’m just gonna warm the bench all practice? I could be like, doing other productive stuff, like getting a burger. I’m so hungry.” As if called upon, Suigetsu’s stomach lets out a loud rumble in response.

“Punishment. Also, you don’t even do shit anyways when you’re on the field.”

“I don’t even wanna be here,” Suigetsu whines, “it was like the last club left available and I’d choose hanging out with you here over joining the pretentious bastards in art appreciation club. Who the hell even wants to appreciate art anyways when you have two studs like us stuck on the bench? They should appreciate me.”

Sasuke rolls his eyes at him. 

“Sasuke, Suigetsu,” Minato yells out, calling both boys attention to him. “We’re going to play a practice game. Sora, you’re captain of blue and Sasuke, you’re the captain of red. I’ll split members accordingly. Get over here you two.”

Suigetsu hurriedly jumps up, Sasuke taking his time to get up and go over to where all the other club members are beginning to gather.

“And Sasuke,” Minato-sensei tells him once the boy is standing right next to him, “I want you to practice that play and pass it to Lee this time, got it.” Sasuke nods his head, waving him off before jogging over to where Sora is standing. 

So what does Sasuke do? He passes it to Lee, but not before sending a smug smile to Minato-sensei because yes he knows how to be a team player sometimes, despite what his teacher seems to think. 

  
-  
  


The conclusion of practice finds Sasuke cooling off on the bench, leaning forward with a towel draped loosely over his shoulders. 

“I’m so tired.” Naruto comes up behind him, dramatically draping his arms over Sasuke’s shoulder and leaning heavily into the boy. Sighing, he rests his cheek against the top of Sasuke’s head.

“And what do you think I am? I’m not your armrest,” Sasuke pushes Naruto’s arm off him head, watching Naruto flail and cry out in outrage. It’s not that he ever really minds Naruto touching him, but it’s way too hot for that right now.

“Sasuke! That’s so mean,” he whines, presence materializing in front of Sasuke and blocking out his view of everything else. 

Ignoring his complaint, Sasuke directs his attention to Naruto’s hair, where his bangs are pushed back by a red headband, which badly contrasts with his green shorts and off-white tank (gaping arm holes included). “Where’d you get that headband?”

“I went to go see Sakura-chan before her wrestling club practice and she gave it to me.” Naruto stretches it for emphasis. “Isn’t she so nice?”

“Debatable.” Sasuke tilts forward slightly. The close proximity doesn’t deter Naruto, instead causing him to crouch so he’s more at height with Sasuke. 

“You’re just jealous because Sakura would never give you one.”

“I don’t want her headband.”

“Yes you do.” Naruto gently brushes Sasuke’s bangs aside, causing his breathing to momentarily stop. The touch is feather light, Naruto applying the barest amount of pressure to tuck Sasuke’s hair behind his ear, but the contact has him feeling a little breathless. 

He’s glad he’s sitting down. Tucking his hands under his thighs, he resists the urge to reach out for Naruto’s hand and maintain their contact. 

“Don’t you hate having your bangs in your face?” Naruto asks, face coming closer to Sasuke’s the more they stare at one another. Their voices are pitched lower now, nothing more than soft exhales of air and sound trapped in their little bubble.

“Not really.”

“Yeah?”

“Uh huh.” Sasuke doesn’t know what else to say and neither does Naruto. Staring into one another’s eyes, he wants this moment to last a little longer. There’s nothing he enjoys more than being trapped in Naruto’s captivating gaze of dark blue.

“Are you sure?”

“Positive.” He’s stalling so bad. 

“Pinky promise?”

“I’m not gonna link pinkies with you if that’s what your asking.” Naruto giggles at that, drawing Sasuke’s attention to his lips and how they stretch nicely across his face. He wants...He’d just like to...Just maybe….

“Minato-sensei wants to talk to you!” Dreaded hands drop onto Sasuke’s back, startling both Naruto and Sasuke in the process. Those hands press against Sasuke’s back, pushing him forward and causing him to knock his head into Naruto’s. 

Gripping his own head, Sasuke closes his eyes in agony and grief, mourning the lost moment and dreading the incoming headache he knows is sure to come. He has an inkling it’s coming, especially if Naruto’s whines are anything to go by. 

“Shit Sas, I’m so sorry.” No he’s fucking not and he knows it. Sasuke can hear him giggling and it makes him want to want to trip him or push him into the water cooler. 

“I hate you.”

“I second that,” Naruto says, sticking his tongue out at Suigetsu. 

“Your dad’s the one who wanted him, not my fault. Don’t shoot the messenger.”

Waving him off and reassuring him that he’ll go see sensei, Sasuke reaches out a hand to help Naruto up from where he fell on his butt from the impact. “Your dad has impeccable timing.”

“Not surprising.”

-

_ the most important day _

Breathing heavy, Sasuke keeps his focus straight ahead. The sounds of fans on the stands has quieted to a hush, everyone holding their breath in anticipation. Penalty kicks are the most stressful part of a game. 

Sasuke knows how to be fast, keep going and going and get a shot in the net with the built up momentum. His speed aids him in kicking farther and harder, but now speed isn’t his aid here. He can’t kick this ball down the field and pick up a nice momentum, no, he only gets a small head start and one kick to make this count. 

The keeper in front of the opposing team’s goal is staring him down, crouching low and ready to dive whichever way Sasuke decides to kick the ball. 

He’s just waiting on that whistle. The ball is right there, only a few paces in front of him. Rocking back and forth on his heels, Sasuke prepares himself. His breathing has slowed down after the game, but it still sounds harsh in his own ears. He pushed himself a lot, but if he scores here, it’ll be all worth it. 

The sound of the whistle startles him out of his musings. Leaning back once to better distribute his weight, Sasuke begins to charge towards the ball. Rearing his foot back, ready to kick and send the ball flying, his focus gets completely screwed over and washes down the drain when he hears a familiar voice. 

“You got this Sasuke!” Naruto yells from somewhere on the sidelines. Turning his head immediately towards the voice and cursing his inability to not always give Naruto attention, especially when he calls his name, he loses any last shred of focus he was holding onto. 

The distraction costs him and before he knows it, he’s tripping over the ball and goes careering into the grass below. An audible gasp descends over the stands. It must be a surprise to see one of their most promising players, face down on the ground, getting distracted by a little cheer and call of his name.

Rising up to his hands and knees, he looks over and sees Naruto, along with the rest of the cheerleaders, covering their mouths. Naruto, with his big sign that has Sasuke’s name written harshly on the front and covered in sparkly glitter, looks at Sasuke with wide eyes. 

At this point, Sasuke welcomes death with open arms. There is truly nothing more embarrassing than this moment, especially when he hears the tell-tale signs of his fellow clubs members beginning to laugh. 

-

After the game (where Sasuke was allowed to redo his attempt, sans the falling and cheering) Kiba slaps Sasuke on the back in congratulations and whispers in his ear that Naruto wants to see him under the bleachers. He casually slips Sasuke’s club jacket onto the boys stunned shoulders, his last named sprawled large across the back and the school’s name printed on the front. 

So now here he is, standing under the stands and waiting on Naruto. He expected him to be here before he arrived, considering he’s the one who wanted to meet him under here anyways. And not only does the thought of Naruto wanting to meet him plague him mind, but the reasoning behind it as well. Kiba seemed almost amused when he mentioned it, especially when he draped Sasuke’s jacket over his shoulders. 

He hopes Naruto isn’t here to just apologize about what happened at the game because that’s the last thing he wants to be reminded of right now. 

Before he can ponder over it too long, he sees a head of blonde hair dart under one of the supporting beams and come closer. He could recognize that head of hair anywhere, and it causes him to sigh in happiness? Relief? Well whatever the emotion is, he just knows he’s glad to see him. 

Especially since Naruto always looks so cute during their games, dressed in his cheer shirt and sweats, face painted with two thick black lines. Sasuke’s favorite part is how nice his arms look without the long sleeve top he normally wears under there. 

Naruto stalks over to Sasuke slowly, stopping once he’s close enough to make out all his features. He’s got his arms tucked behind his back, which is a sure sign that he’s excited about something. Whenever he gets really happy, he usually hides his hands behind his back and grips them together to try and contain himself. 

“You did good out there.” His voice sounds so nice, so soft. 

He knows he did decent enough, considering they were able to win, but the reassurance always feels good for his ego. “Really?”

“You’re like...I don’t know how to describe you on the field but you’re amazing. It’s like, you’re this flash of lightning or something, maybe more like a bullet. And you won, on top of being amazing.” He sounds genuine and it does something to Sasuke’s heart, makes his yearning worse. He loves when Naruto talks to him, especially when he talks about him with such fondness. 

“Thanks.”

“Also, I know you don’t want to hear this, but,” Naruto dodges Sasuke’s attempt at covering his mouth. “I’m sorry I made you fall flat on your face and embarrass yourself in front of the school. I didn’t think the great Sasuke Uchiha could ever lose focus, let alone mess up.” Naruto giggles to himself, probably thinking he’s so damn funny. 

“Ha ha ha,” Sasuke mocks his laughter, “no thanks to you and your ugly sign.”

“Hey!” Naruto pokes a finger into his chest. “I’ll have you know I took that from one of the first years.” Naruto puts a finger to his chin in thought. “Hm, I should probably give that back now that I think about it.” Sasuke doesn’t even want to know where Naruto left it. 

“Well, their sign sucks.”

“And so did your fall from grace,” Naruto fends off Sasuke’s weak attempts at trying to wave him away. “Your majesty.” He gives a mock bow, laughing hard when Sasuke shoves at him lightly. 

Sasuke resists the urge to crack a smile at the face Naruto’s making and the sounds coming out of his mouth. His laugh is contagious. 

Sasuke doesn’t want Naruto to stop laughing, but he’s also curious as well. “Why did you want to meet me down here anyways?”

“Well,” Naruto says softly, which contrasts the loudness of his laugh. He sounds almost bashful, maybe shy, and is there goes that blush again. “Ino told me something and I just wanted to confirm if it was true or not because I’ve been dying to know for a while now and you don’t tell me these things so I just have to take a shot in the dark here.” He’s rambling, badly. Sasuke knows he only gets like this when he’s nervous.

“What do you want me to tell you?”

Naruto continues as if he didn’t hear Sasuke, and with the way he’s tripping over his words right now, Sasuke wouldn’t be surprised if he didn’t actually hear him. “So like when you tripped over the ball after I yelled out your name, Ino told me that you failed because you got distracted by me. By the way, Ino says that’s karma for when you kicked the ball at her head.”

“That was an accident, but whatever.”   
  


“Someone with your accuracy, debatable.”

“I was aiming for Kiba, he didn’t jump high enough and it went over his head. Not my fault her head was in the way.”

“You did not just say she has a big head.” The disbelief is clear in his voice. “I’m so telling Ino that later.”

Sasuke waves that off. “Yeah, yeah, enough about Ino, back to what you were saying.”

“Okay,” Naruto says, taking a breath before continuing, “so Ino may have let it slip that the reason why you lost your concentration, even though you never do, is because you have a mega super crush on me.” Naruto speeds through the last few words, causing Sasuke to miss most of it. 

“A what?” Sasuke asks because he genuinely could not hear what he just said. 

“Do you have a crush on me?” Naruto yells out, closing his eyes in the process. Sasuke thinks he stops breathing, fuck. His heart is going so fast right now. 

“I-”   
  


“It’s okay if you don’t, but Ino said you did and I mostly trust her. Also, I have like the grossest crush on you and now I’m word vomiting and I can’t stop talking because I’m so scared that you’re going to say no and reject me and we won’t be able to be friends again and-” 

Sasuke shuts him up by pulling him close, wrapping his arms around Naruto’s and resting his head on his shoulder. This feeling, this rush and euphoria he’s feeling right now, is unmatched and unbelievable. This is, wow he’s elated and just so so happy. 

“I have the grossest crush on you Naruto Uzumaki and I’ve had it for a very long time now. Ever since middle school in fact,” Sasuke whispers into his ear. Pulling back, he observes Naruto’s face, studying the way his eyes open in disbelief and how they gloss over from the amount of emotion coursing through his body.

“I need like a lot of moments to breathe right now,” Naruto whispers, voice gone quiet. “I can’t believe this is happening. I’ve dreamed about this exact moment happening and for it to actually be real is kind of mind boggling.” 

“Do you want me to leave you here so you can compose yourself?” Sasuke asks, can’t help himself for feeling smug. Knowing that Naruto feels the same way about his has him feeling like the most powerful man alive right now. 

“No. What I really want is for you to kiss me though,” Naruto says casually. Hearing Sasuke chuckle makes him flush slightly. It’s clear that he’s just vomiting out his thoughts, not filtering anything. 

“Yeah?” Sasuke asks, stepping closer to Naruto and crowding into him. Relishing in his ability to do this and not having to question if he’s crossing the boundaries of friendship or not. 

“Yeah,” Naruto responds, leaning forward to connect his lips with Sasuke’s. It’s possibly the worst kiss they’ll ever have, too hyped up on pure joy to stop smiling long enough to make it a real kiss. Their noses bump slightly, causing Naruto to giggle a little into Sasuke’s mouth and lean backwards. 

Sasuke gives him a chaste peck on the lips instead, knowing that he won’t be able to go in for that award winning star quality movie kiss he’s always dreamed of, just yet, especially if Naruto won’t stop laughing. 

“What’s that behind your back Naruto?” Sasuke eyes, seeing some fabric dangling in Naruto’s fist. It looks oddly enough familiar. 

“Well,” Naruto laughs a little, still not able to control the pure glee he’s feeling at the moment. “I wasn’t sure if you were going to reciprocate my feelings or not, but I wanted to exchange club jackets with you just in case you did. I heard it’s supposed to be good luck and that a lot of couples do it.”

Sasuke’s mouth drops open a little in surprise. That would explain why Kiba slipped his over his shoulders after the game. 

“That’s if you wanted to, anyways, “ Naruto adds on. Sasuke’s silence if clearly making him feeling uncertain, so he tries to rectify that. 

“I’d love to,” Sasuke finally responds. Taking off his jacket, he slips it around Naruto’s shoulder and let’s Naruto do the same with his own. “Probably the easiest way to announce we’re dating.”

“Speaking of that, my dad’s gonna hate it.”

“Oh I know,” Sasuke smirks, “but that’s on him. I just want to wine and dine his son, nothing wrong with that.”

“He thinks there’s everything wrong with that. He thinks you’re a hooligan set out to corrupt me, his words.”

“Funny considering you’re the one corrupting me. Getting me to cheat and give you my homework answers. Getting me in detention.” Sasuke shakes his head. “So who’s the real bad influence now?”

“Still you,” Naruto says, kissing him on the cheek, loving the fact that he can do that now. “You’re still cute though, but also, does that mean you’re going to take me out on ramen dates and do my homework for me?” He gives Sasuke his most blinding smile.

“Dobe,” Sasuke shakes his head, “I already do that for you now.”

“Wait,” Naruto takes a pause, “are you telling me those were dates?”

“In my head they were, yes. Although, not official dates.”

“Well then, what was the point of me even asking you out if we already did that before?” Naruto throws his hands up in exaggeration. 

“Because I couldn’t do this before.” To emphasize his point, Sasuke pulls him into another kiss, this one lasting a little longer. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> thank you for all of the comments, kudos, and bookmarks! i appreciate each and every one, so thank you again. if you enjoyed this, you can also follow me on [twitter](https://twitter.com/sausegay) to hear more about my fics i have planned for the future or send me questions on [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/sausegay?t=1570407266) ! have a good day :)


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